Pharis Town, Georgia
Not to be confused with the modern town of Pharisburg, Georgia. Pharis Town is the historic town near Greenville. All of the buildings in the town were built between the 1600s and the early 1800s. History Pharis Town was first settled in 1642 by Spencer L. Pharis I and several other prominent Pharis family members. The first census was taken in 1644 and repeated once every two years. By 1648, eleven homes and eight businesses had been built. In 1673, the town began operating a quarry south of town, and fifteen new residences were built. Unfortunately, in 1703, the town was destroyed by a massive fire. However, by 1711, newer, stronger, better residences were constructed and Pharius Town was making a name for itself as a wealthy transportation and market hub for northern Georgia. In May of 1721, a major residential dispute erupted over where the cattle of farmer Alexander Pharis could graze. Quickly, things turned bad and a small battle erupted with the merchants and farmers on one side and the government and poor on the other. By November, the government and poor began a new town nearby, called Pharis Borough. By 1734, both towns had established strong relations. Eventually, around 1740, Pharis Borough began to be called Pharrusburg. In 1744, the town experienced a major growth boost, having one of the first salt mines and hosting a new fishery. In 1746, the town established a major trade road to Savannah, Georgia. In 1752, the town had another major boost, now hosting many government offices but was not the colony seat. In 1759, a small flood and a few fires destroyed eight homes and two businesses. But by 1766, they had been rebuilt. In 1771, the town had a huge growth boost, boasting twelve new areas and an upgraded Center Street. Upon 1774, the town had about eleven thousand people. But the largest growth came between 1776 and 1789, when the town got over six thousand more people, adding up to seventeen thousand people. Finally, in 1792, the town's population began going down, and by 1809 was only around 10,500 people, where it bottomed out. The town's population began to increase again in 1811 and, by 1816, had gone up to fourteen thousand people. But it then began to steadily decline, and by 1855, had gone down to six thousand people. The last new building was constructed in 1856, and was a small addition to the town hall. In 1861, when the Civil War began, the town was highly pro-Confederate (due to the Pharis family's rootings in ancient Rome's Pharius family, and rome depended on slavery), and as such, many Pharises went to war as Confederates. However, a few became Union spies, including Spencer L. Pharis V. The town was reached by Union forces in 1866 because of heavy barricades and defenses, and the town was upset and combattive enough that the Union forces nearly burned both towns down. However, the towns decided to hire black servants, their replacement for the slaves. By 1898, the town was doing away with this and the servants'/slaves' quarters were being returned to nature. The town's economy finally fell through in 1906 and many buildings and structures were falling into disrepair. The Pharis Town S bridge on Center Street was deemed unsound and closed, the Covered Bridge on Pheasant Street was bypassed due to structural issues, and the city hall's facade nearly partially caved in, promping the closure of a few rooms. In 1923, the city